CALEDONIAN COMMENT

The American teenager who is the expectant father of a baby with the 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin calls himself ‘a f***ing redneck’ on his MySpace page. Levi Johnston (pictured above), 18, a high-school hockey player, is engaged to Bristol Palin, whose pregnancy was revealed to the Republican party convention just days after her 44-year-old mother was picked as John McCain’s running mate. He is the high-school sweetheart (how twee) of the Alaska governor’s daughter and used his home page to admit having a girlfriend, but said: ‘I don’t want kids.’  Well Levi, tough luck, because trying to persuade Bristol to get an abortion in an election year might be a bit of a problem – and doing a runner ain’t an option either when you’re surrounded by Republican Party handlers. Next time, when you’re playing with the Bristols of this world, keep it in your Levi’s, Levi .

 

It’s somehow gratifying to see that it’s not just in the UK that politicians can make a pig’s ear of it (no offence intended to our Muslim readers).  In the US Republican fears were growing yesterday that their vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin (above) may be forced to step down if any further damaging revelations like our main headline story threaten John McCain’s White House bid. A senior team of Republican lawyers and investigators have been rushed to Alaska to ensure there are no more skeletons in the Alaska governor’s closet. Now Mr McCain is facing serious questions over the hasty vetting process into Mrs Palin’s dubious background that some Republican insiders claim amounted to little more than a Google internet search. Maybe that search should have waited for the new “Chrome” browser. But at the end of the day nothing revealed about Mrs Palin over the last week would affect her performance if elected – so once again it’s demonstrated that in the political arena, dominated by the media, perception is more important than performance – unless you’re talking about UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in which case both are crap.

  

A Muslim radiographer claims she was forced out of her job at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, UK (pictured above) because she refused to bare her arms as required by National Health Service (NHS) hygiene policy. She was told by her bosses that all staff had to roll up their sleeves to the elbow. But the unnamed woman instead chose to quit, claiming she was forced out by discrimination over her religious beliefs, including the Islamic teaching that women should cover their bodies in public. The NHS’s ‘bare below the elbows’ dress code was introduced in January in a bid to combat superbugs like Clostridium Difficile and MRSA. The woman, supplied to the hospital on June 16 by an agency, says she wants to ‘prevent the policy from being universally applied, so other Muslim women do not experience the same trauma’. What a load of bollocks. If she won’t abide by the hygiene regulations within the hospital, she should have been FIRED anyway. Indeed the Agency that supplied her should compensate the hospital for referring an unsuitable worker unwilling to abide by hygiene regulations. But how long will it be before some human rights lawyer attempts to win this woman compensation for her “hurt” and the NHS’s “insult to Islam”? And doubtless some half-witted judge will agree that political correctness and resultant filth in hospitals is more desirable than preventing patients dying from Clostridium Difficile or MRSA.

 

The UK economy will fall into recession during the second half of this year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Britain is expected to perform the worst of the world’s richest nations, with its economy predicted to shrink by 0.3 per cent in the third quarter and by 0.4 per cent in the final three months of the year. The definition of a recession is two successive quarters of negative growth, according to the Paris-based economic organisation. According to official UK data released last month, the economy came to a standstill during the second quarter of 2008. The longest period of uninterrupted economic growth in British history has ended, leaving the country on the brink of recession. I wonder how much all these fancy economists a.k.a. doom and gloom merchants get paid to tell us what we already bloody know ? Perhaps they might be more use if they earned their fat salaries trying to suggest ways OUT of recession instead of gleefully commentating on the obvious and promulgating self-fulfilling prophecies. 

 

Joseph Stalin (pictured above, in jocular mood – he’d probably just ordered a killing) acted ‘entirely rationally’ in executing and imprisoning millions of people in the Gulags, a controversial new Russian teaching manual claims. Some 55 years after the Soviet dictator died, the latest guide for teachers to promote patriotism among the Russian young said he did what he did to ensure the country’s development and modernisation. The manual, titled A History of Russia, 1900-1945, will form the basis of a new state-approved text book for use in schools next year. It seems to follow an attempt backed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to re-evaluate Stalin’s record in a more positive light. Another indicator then of Russia re-writing history to bolster its “image” . But maybe someone should remind Mr Putin that Stalin was a Georgian !

  

And it’s not just some Muslims that have funny ideas about healthcare . A reflexologist used a high street massage device on his patients in a bid to satisfy his lust while pretending the ‘treatment’ would solve their health problems, a court was told yesterday. Stuart Hill (pictured above), 57, told his female patients he was using the latest Chinese massage technique which would help them feel better. Hill claimed the ‘hormone therapy’, which involved him placing a vibrating massager on an intimate part of the patient’s body, would arouse the patient and make them ‘orgasmic’, which would in turn help them recover from ailments like sore knees ! Durham Crown Court heard that one of Hill’s alleged victims went to his clinic at Meridian Massage at Nevilles Dross, near Durham City, because she had knee problems. He claimed the therapy had ‘scales of arousal between one and 10′ and told his patient to think about sex with her husband during the process, the court heard. Which all raises 2 questions : (1) How desperate was Mr Hill ? And (2) How stupid was the woman ? The case continues.

 

French police have arrested an Afghan people-smuggler and an Iranian migrant suspected of raping a London journalism student in a squalid migrants’ camp (above) in Calais last week. Detectives swooped on the pair in the northern French port on Sunday and are now checking fingerprints and DNA against those of the 31-year-old victim, officials revealed. The rape victim, a Canadian student in London, had helped police create an e-fit photo of the suspect after her ordeal last Tuesday. Deputy prosecutor of Boulogne-sur-Mer Philippe Muller said: ‘An Afghan man thought to be a people smuggler and an Iranian man have been arrested in connection with the rape of a Canadian student last week. ‘They are being interviewed in custody and charges could be brought.’ One could be charged with rape and the other with assisting him, he added. The student – who cannot be named for legal reasons – had travelled to the French port to interview migrants sleeping rough before trying to sneak into Britain. It is thought she had been warned by local police not to go to the camp as it was a dangerous place for lone females. I wonder how long it will be before the accused pair request and are granted asylum in the UK ? And even if they’re convicted and jailed in France, you can bet your life that as soon as they’re released they’ll be over the Channel, through our ineffectual vetting procedures for undesirable entrants and signing on for social benefits quicker that you can say “human rights” .

 

In a futile attempt to assist the ailing UK property market above ( and try to raise the government’s dead popularity) , Stamp duty will be suspended for a year on the purchase of property costing less than £175,000, the Treasury announced yesterday. The payment holiday, which takes effect from today, is an attempt to show voters that the government is on the side of homebuyers at a time when property values have slumped and sales stagnated. The move by the chancellor, Alistair Darling, raises the threshold at which 1% stamp duty is paid from £125,000, and will save eligible homebuyers up to £1,750. The scheme applies only to buildings entirely for residential use. It is expected to be welcomed by potential homebuyers as the economic downturn hits the property market. Estate agents have complained that housebuyers have stayed away over the summer in anticipation of stamp duty relief. But as usual with this government it’s a useless exercise – unless and until interest rates come down and, even more importantly, lenders start lending again and stop taking the piss out of borrowers with exorbitant charges when they do, this measure will come to nothing.

 

And the Credit Crunch continues to bite. Thinner bin bags (above) are being handed out to homeowners in the latest desperate cost-cutting measure by a local authority. The plastic bags will be around five per cent slimmer than standard sacks. Officials at Sevenoaks District Council, in Kent, UK, blamed the move on the soaring cost of oil, which is used to make polymer-based products. It says it is facing a £17,000 overspend on its refuse budget unless cuts are made. And it’s expected that other local authorities will follow suit. But council tax campaigners and residents have complained that the new, flimsier bin bags are more likely to split, increasing the risk of rubbish blowing around streets and residents being fined for littering. That’s all part of the plan !

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Tags: alaska, alistair darling, boulogne-sur-mer, bristol palin, calais, clostridium difficile, credit crunch, durham crown court, gordon brown, john mccain, joseph stalin, levi johnston, levi's, mrsa, muslim radiographer, nevilles dross, nhs, oecd, phillipe muller, reading, recession, republican party, royal berkshire hospital, sarah palin, sevenoaks district council, stamp duty holiday, stuart hill, uk, vladimir putin

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 am and is filed under Daily Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.